Sporting Kansas City forward Teal Bunbury was named to the United States Under-23 Men’s National Team roster for a training camp to be held from February 19-29 in Frisco, Texas, U.S. Soccer announced on Thursday.
Bunbury, 21, is one of eight forwards invited to the 23-player training camp in preparation for the 2012 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament, to be held from March 22nd through April 2nd. The United States will take on Mexico on Wed., Feb. 29 at FC Dallas Stadium.
“I’m honored to once again be able to represent the United States as the team continues to prepare for qualifying,” Bunbury said. “I’m looking forward to earning for my spot and hopefully competing at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park during the tournament.”
The top two teams from each group will advance to play at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park with the region’s two berths in the 2012 Olympic Games in London to be decided in the semifinal matches on March 31st. The state-of-the-art new stadium, which also hosted the U.S. Men’s National Team in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, will then serve as the site of the tournament championship on April 2nd.
Tickets for the semifinal and final round of the qualifying tournament at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park can be purchased here. The matches will be broadcast by Universal Sports Network (English) and Telemundo (Spanish).
In his second professional season, Bunbury tied for the team lead with nine goals during the 2011 MLS regular season and scored twice in Sporting Kansas City’s postseason run to the Eastern Conference Championship match last month. Coupled with his five goals and two assists in his rookie season one year ago, Bunbury leads all 2010 MLS SuperDraft selections in both goals and points.
Taken in the first round out of Akron, Bunbury will again be playing for his former college coach Caleb Porter, who was selected to lead the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team in October. Bunbury, who debuted for the full U.S. Men’s National Team in November 2010 and scored in his second appearance in January 2011, most recently earned senior team caps against Venezuela and Panama along with Sporting Kansas City teammates C.J. Sapong and Graham Zusi.
